The world added the smallest amount of new coal capacity in two decades last year, a report said recently, but use of the fossil fuel is still surging in China and India.
Coal accounts for just over a third of global electricity production and phasing it out is fundamental to meeting climate change goals.
Just 44 gigawatts (GW) of new coal power capacity was produced globally last year, the lowest figure since 2004, according to the report by a group of energy- and environment-focused research organizations and NGOs.
"Last year was a harbinger of things to come for coal as the clean energy transition moves full speed ahead," said Christine Shearer of the Global Energy Monitor, which co-authored the report.
But new capacity still outstripped coal closures, meaning a net increase in the global coal fleet, the report noted.
China began construction on a record number of coal plants last year.
Last year also saw a record number of new coal proposals in India, the report warned.
